Devices for applying liquid materials to cylindrical items of manufacture are well known in the manufacturing industry. The external diameters of cylindrical items are, for example, coated with paint or other material in the packaging industry, and with adhesive material in the automotive parts industry. One common method of applying adhesive material to parts manufactured for the automotive industry is spray coating.
One disadvantage of the spray coating process in connection with the application of adhesive is that it is quite inefficient. It is estimated that only 15%-20% of sprayed coating material adheres to the part surface being coated. Thus, as much as 80%-85% of the often expensive coating material being sprayed may be "lost".
An additional disadvantage, is that the adhesives typically used for automotive parts in spray processes are often volatile organic based materials. The atomization of such materials may result in vapors which should not be released directly into the environment. Thus, the "lost" material must be reclaimed. Reclamation of such material typically involves the use of a water retrieval system. Treatment of the waste water resulting from the operation of retrieval systems is also expensive.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,296,708, for example, provides an apparatus for roll coating the external diameters of cylindrical parts with adhesive material using fiber felt rolls. Such devices require the cylindrical part to be moved between drive and idler rolls and are not capable of applying in a precise and repeatable manner specific coating thicknesses.